Following recent attacks on American shipping in the Red Sea, the United States said it struck back in a targeted operation near the Red Sea.
U.S. Central Command (Centcom) on Monday said it had conducted a precision airstrike against a command facility operated by Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Sana’a, Yemen.
“The targeted facility was a hub for coordinating Houthi operations, such as attacks against U.S. Navy warships and merchant vessels in the southern Red Sea and Gulf of Aden,” Centcom said in a release. “The strike reflects Centcom’s ongoing commitment to protect U.S. and coalition personnel, regional partners, and international shipping.”
No other details were provided.
The Houthis earlier this month twice launched attacks on a trio of U.S.-owned and -flagged merchant ships and two U.S. Navy destroyer escorts. The missile and drone assaults were neutralized by the Navy with no casualties or damage reported.
The U.S. and European Union have been providing a military presence to help protect shipping in the region.
The violence in the Red Sea, a key route to the Suez Canal for the Asia-Mediterranean-U.S. East Coast shipping trade, has led carriers to divert vessels on longer routes around the Horn of Africa.
Including the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait connecting the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden, 164 ships have been attacked a total of 227 times from November 2023 through November 2024, according to the International Monetary Fund’s PortWatch.
The attacks have claimed four lives, while two vessels and their crews remain in captivity, in Yemen and Iran.
The fundamentalist Muslim Houthis seized approximately 40% of Yemen territory in 2014. The militia began launching attacks against what they say were merchant vessels linked to Israel following the start of the war in Gaza.
Find more articles by Stuart Chirls here.
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